Liam Neeson Says Christopher Nolan Didn't Explain Why He Was Back In 'The Dark Knight Rises'

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by Kevin Jagernauth
October 3, 2012 5:00 PM
22 Comments

Sorry guys, the statute of limitations on spoilers for one of the biggest movies of the summer is over. So yes, Liam Neeson did return in "The Dark Knight Rises," but lest you think that Christopher Nolan let the villain of "Batman Begins" in on the ground floor of why he was back after being killed in the first installment of the franchise, you would be gravely mistaken.

The director's penchant for secrecy is well documented and par for the course these days, but you might think that Neeson would be given a bit of background as to why Ra's Al Ghul was hanging out in a musty prison in "The Dark Knight Rises." Not so. “[Nolan] takes it to another extreme — I didn’t know I was in the movie,” Neeson told Hollywood (via MTV). “I went and shot a scene for two hours with Christian Bale. There was a set, and Christian was tied up. I said, ‘Chris, what am I doing?’ [As Nolan:] ‘Um… well, just walk forward, and say the lines, walk back, and that’ll be it, really.’ I said, ‘What the f***? Tell me the story!’ [As Nolan:] ‘Um… I’d prefer not to, really.’ Okay, don’t mind me — I’m just an actor.”

But Neeson shouldn't feel too bad as that's how it probably went on the movie for anyone who wasn't Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Morgan Freeman or Gary Oldman. Or wait, maybe he should?

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22 Comments

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Dark knight vs Dark knight rises | October 6, 2012 12:44 PMReply

What are u guys talking about Christopher Nolan is an amazing director and the Dark knight Rises is the best movie ever!
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Lala | October 5, 2012 2:23 PMReply

He should've just used his fighting skills to make him tell him the story.
Dryer | October 3, 2012 6:38 PMReply

Yea I'm beginning to think Nolans reign as the mighty Oz type figure is finally being exposed. His films really are a lot of fluff with nothing really substantial once you get past the hype; to which you have to give him credit for exposing us the audience as sheep for the slaughter. Ever since The Prestige, his last film with an actual coehesive script and plot line, he's been playing the same quick flick of tne wrist tired magic trick offshoot of a script.
John Redmond | October 14, 2012 11:19 AM

If you think substance in a film is based on watching for continuity of policemen clean shaving then you're a right twat. I'm not gonna even begin to explain why TDKR had a lot of substance. Moron.
Dryer | October 4, 2012 10:17 AM

It opened to acclaim because it's different than your average superhero film and we all fed into the hype. And yes he has been exposed as making a grand spectacle to distract the audience from any plot holes or odd edits. TDKR was a jumbled mess-Catwoman taking out Bane, Batman painting the bridge in gasoline, Waynes reappearance in Gotham, Gotham city showing no signs of a city under attack, Police clean shaven after being underground. TDKR was either rushed or heavily edited. It's smoke and mirrors, your seeing what he wants to experience in the theater, but it never connects afterward. Yes he does bring thought provoking ideas to a normally brain dead genre, but I also find that also causes him to be arrogant in his storytelling. I'll admit INCEPTION was a good movie but still falls under the third act containing a suprise ending.
LOLWUT? | October 3, 2012 8:58 PM

How has he been "exposed?" The Dark Knight Rises has earned nearly $1.1 billion dollars at the worldwide box office (despite a national tragedy occurring at the midnight premiere of the movie in the U.S.), and the film opened to critical acclaim. The fact that you don't like his movies doesn't mean that he has been "exposed" in any way. In fact, you present no evidence to support your claim. I'm guessing that you don't have any.
andy | October 3, 2012 8:13 PM

Not at all, two of his best films in my opinion came after The Prestige; being The Dark Knight and Inception. Fluff? There's a lot going on beneath the surface of the stories; sure, some of his films like The Dark Knight Rises lean more towards escapism story telling, but the characters have been carefully thought out. He's certainly not a commercial director trying to "sell, sell, sell", if he was his films would lack any depth or deep themes and would resemble more of a Micheal Bay kind of film. The Dark Knight was one of the most thought provoking superhero films I've seen, he's breaking the mold for blockbusters and mixing more interpretive storytelling while maintaining fantastic action. People have started watching his films because they are unconventional; want to know a film that really leading the audience like sheep to the slaughter? The Avengers. I can't believe it made as much money as it did.
Christian | October 3, 2012 5:53 PMReply

Liam Neeson has finally found his match: Chris fucking Nolan! "I'm not telling ya, Liam"
matt | October 3, 2012 5:51 PMReply

This movie is the hype of the century so far. The last two were so good. Somebody explain how this could go so wrong...
Not Matt | October 3, 2012 9:00 PM

The fact that you didn't like the film doesn't mean that something went wrong. It simply means that you didn't like the movie. Most moviegoers enjoyed it quite a bit (see: the movie's box office totals, the "A" Cinemascore it received, and the critical praise it received).
Jason | October 3, 2012 8:33 PM

Yeah sure I'll explain....I didn't go wrong.
NeesonSeason | October 3, 2012 5:33 PMReply

Nolan is about to learn that it's Neeson Season.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsAAcU9jkAg
Paul | October 3, 2012 5:29 PMReply

explains why the film sucked so much. bunch of hype, ridiculous plotting
REALITY HURTS | October 4, 2012 3:22 PM

LOL this was in no way better than Batman Begins. Order of best to worst

TDK
BB
TDKR
Jason | October 3, 2012 8:33 PM

It didn't suck, it was second in the franchise only to The Dark Knight but it is way better then Batman Begins, the entire trilogy was amazing.
Whaaa? | October 3, 2012 8:15 PM

Looks like we got an Avenger troll XD
rodie | October 3, 2012 5:14 PMReply

Anyone get the impression that Neeson and Nolan didn't exactly hit it off? Not that that every actor and director have to be buddy-buddy with each other, but still...
EIDOR | October 3, 2012 9:00 PM

I didn't get that impression at all.
Nolan's Amazing | October 3, 2012 5:12 PMReply

"Liam, just fucking act!"
Stephen Staunton | October 3, 2012 5:12 PMReply

It's funny you bring that up cause I was listening to the Nerdist Podcast yesterday where they interviewed Joseph Gordon-Levitt and he revealed that the only people privy to the final page(s) of the script were he, Chris Nolan, Emma Thomas, Christian Bale and Wally Pfister. Then of course the crew found out exactly what the final scene was when they eventually shot it
[A] | October 3, 2012 5:10 PMReply

Haha, nice story. Imagine the guy saying "What the f***? Tell me the story!" and Nolan going "Hm......nah"
Rohan | October 3, 2012 5:04 PMReply

Yeah. He (Chris Nolan) does that.